Sunday, April 12, 2009

Life is Sweet

Easter and Passover were pre-empted this year in the house on Tennessee Avenue so we could devote all our energy to celebrating my roommate's fiftieth birthday.

I spent all day yesterday in the kitchen cooking. I was like a mad scientist, measuring and stirring and adding this and that to my various concoctions. Meanwhile the rain poured down outside. Just before the guests arrived, the sky cleared and the house filled up with sparkling sunshine.

The conversation was wonderful, the food was good. A feeling of love and good will circled around the table. And even though we shared a bottle of Dom Perignon afterwards, I have no trace of a hangover. I love champagne but rarely touch it these days because the price I pay afterwards is way too steep. I guess it's true about really fine wine, that it is gentler on the body. Or maybe it was the feeling of love and celebration that made the difference.

There is really nothing quite as special as breaking bread with people you care about, whether that takes the form of a Seder, Easter dinner, or a birthday party.

Or maybe, it's not how expensive the champagne (which does taste better than the cheap stuff) that makes a difference in how you feel the next day, it's sharing it with friends instead of drinking the whole thing yourself that makes you feel fine afterward.

Such lovely roses, I'm sure they matched the beautiful glow of your house and the congenial spirits shared. What a lovely way to pass the evening, reminds me of a scene from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

Yes, breaking bread and sharing wine with friends; the best. Roses are my favorite flower and I appreciate your photograph and miss having bushes of my own. Too short a season up here for the work roses require. Ahhh, greener warmer pastures await.

I almost never drink anything alcoholic, cheap or expensive. But during our East-over pseudo-seder last night, the 1/2 bottle of blackberry Manischewitz I consumed had no negative effect on me. So, I vote for love and the celebration of good will as the mitigating factor. I hope everyone had/has a great whatever you celebrate at this time of the year.

I love the party preparation phase of an event. There is something meditative and fullfilling about making things special for special people. After the hustle bustle of the preparation and celebration, relaxing of clean-up afterward is like a reward.

I checked your blog yesterday and thought, "Please don't let her be out in this horrible weather, replacing Jake on his grass, posting this dreariness....and you didn't." Instead I get beautiful apricot roses (and I love uniquely colored roses,) and knowing you were preparing food for others in celebration--the best.

I really was worried if I had gone too far with the comment to you both and kept thinking I should have deleted them. But then I kept thinking that I had to leave it there for both of you, to bring peace. I hope I brought joy and peace to both of your hearts.

Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers and sharing the party with us. I hope you are having a beautiful Sunday in DC.